Leylin looked over the immeasurable amount of black flowers in the distance as he calculated the progress.
As long as all these Black Mandara Flowers were harvested, headquarters wouldnât have any reasons to prevent him and the others from leaving.
All the acolytes that Leylin had previously met were currently in the sea of flowers, carrying simple containers made from green vines. Their hands were covered with a ring of dark energy particles as they plucked these Black Mandara Flowers with great care.
âThis progress is too slow!â
With this kind of harvesting speed, Leylin estimated that it would take at least another month before this field of flowers would be completely harvested.
The opposing dark Magi would never give them this amount of time.
âI must find a way to speed up the progress!â
Leylin squatted on the ground. With his hands covered by the dark light of a magic spell, he touched the petals of the Black Mandara Flowers. At the same time, a tinge of blue light flashed past his eyes.
Suddenly a series of shrill sounds, like those of a small bell, rang out.
*Buzz buzz!* A barrier of white light was emitted to tightly surround the field of Black Madara Flowers.
âThe defensive spell formation has been activated! Thereâs an intruder!â
An acolyte started to yell, âEveryone, beware!â
*Whoosh!* Suddenly, a dark silhouette darted out from the high grass surrounding the field of flowers.
Two huge white skulls emerged from the hands of the black silhouette.
The skulls didnât have bodies attached to them, and just spookily floated in the air. Inside each of the skullsâ eye sockets was a red ball of continuously burning flames.
These huge skulls opened their mouths, revealing fine, sharp, white teeth as they bit into the white light barrier.
The white light of the barrier was blinking constantly, as if it would break at any moment.
âOh!â The black silhouette exclaimed in surprise, seemingly unsatisfied with his own performance. Following which, a black aura consisting of energy particles appeared around his body.
Suddenly, the black energy aura emitted a serene light, which turned into two streaks of light as they hit the skulls.
The red fire within the skullâs eye sockets suddenly expanded, and the structure of the skulls expanded considerably. Cracks even appeared on the surface of the skullw. It appeared like the energies inside were expanding too rapidly and the skulls were starting to burst.
Following this transformation, the offensive power of these two skulls increased. The white light barrier kept shrinking, and in the end, it finally broke in front of the crestfallen acolytes.
âSemi-converted elemental Magus? We are finished!â
A more experienced acolyte collapsed to the ground with an expression filled with despair.
âFear not! Lord Leylin is also an official Magus!â George held the small hand of the trembling Shiera.
âWhat would you know!â The previous acolyte, who had collapsed to the ground, yelled in despair, âOur side only has this newly advanced and outcasted Magus! On the other hand, our opponent is a powerhouse who has been an official Magus for dozens of years. Being a semi-converted elemental Magus, all his spells are stronger by at least half! At this stage, compared to those newly advanced Magi, he is simply invincibleâ
Believing that his end was nearing, this acolyte didnât care any more. He even started to be disrespectful towards Leylin.
âHehe! A very interesting explanation, but quite accurate nonetheless!â
The black silhouette walked unhurriedly towards the flower field, and revealed himself to Leylin and the rest.
He was a young green-haired Magus. He was dressed in a strange black robe, which had a couple green skulls and chains embroidered on it.
âHeâs from Kurute Academy, which is known for its methods of torture and and use of the spirits of the dead!â Leylinâs eyes flashed as he recognized this Magus in front of them.
This Kurute Academy is only a tiny faction within the dark Magi of the south coast.
They produce a lot of lunatics, perverts, and other people with mental illnesses. Even the other dark Magi could not stomach them, hence they were often excluded from different plans and only partook in sporadic missions.
The green haired Magus clasped his hands behind his back and greedily looked over the sea of Black Mandara Flowers.
âWhat an enchanting atmosphere⌠I can detect the taste of darknessâŚâ The youth muttered.
Following which, he turned his face around and stared at Leylin with his dark green eyes.
âLight Magi! Kneel in front of me, the great Lord Ciel, and offer to me your souls and devotion. Then I might consider to let you be my slavesâŚâ
This Magus named Ciel had a really proud demeanor, but Leylin could understand why.
The age of a Magus couldnât be determined by looking at their physical appearance. But Leylin could estimate that this Ciel was around 50 years old based on the energy waves he was unknowingly releasing.
His being able to become a semi-converted elemental Magus at such a young age did indeed give him the rights to be proud. But he had encountered the wrong man.
Leylin smiled and didnât even get to speak as the acolyte who previously collapsed to the ground growled with great haste in front of Ciel. He then proceeded to kneel and kiss the ground before Ciel.
âEsteemed Lord Ciel! Iâm willing to serve you! I will become your most loyal slave!â
It was clear that the actions of this acolyte surpassed everyoneâs expectations.
Next to Leylin, plenty of acolytes carried an expression of scorn. They clearly didnât know that this acolyte who normally carried himself pretty decently would turn into this kind of person at a crucial moment.
The face of the other acolytes expressed their internal struggle which they kept from being blatantly shown.
âVery good! Iâll accept you as a servant!â Ciel revealed a strange smile on his face as he proceeded to extend his left hand and gently wiped the face of the acolyte.
White smoke rose up, accompanied by the pained scream of the acolyte.
Cielâs left hand was like a red-hot iron plate as it left a large black charred mark on the face of the acolyte.
While the acolyte was screaming the face of this Magus was expressing excitement as he slid his finger over the acolyteâs face.
A bit more than ten seconds later, a complete rune mark was burned into the face of the acolyte.
The surface of this mark resembled a skull, with a chain extending from within.
âThank⌠Thank you, my Lord, for⌠this gift!â
The acolyte struggled to salute once more.
âHaha⌠After receiving my mark, you are now my slave forever!â Ciel laughed, then looked over at Leylin.
âWhat is it? Light Magus, are you scared silly?â
âNot really!â Leylin shook his head.
âI just think heâs a bit pitiful, thatâs all!â Leylin pointed towards the acolyte who had half his face ruined and facial muscles still twitching.
âWhy is that?â Ciel rubbed his fingers as slivers of white gas emerged from his fingers to form the shape of a skull.
His bodyâs energy was undulating as his eyes emitted a dangerous light.
âBlurgh!â The acolytes behind Leylin all fell back, some of them even double and started to hurl.
The radiation from an official Magus, especially when voluntarily released from a powerful Magus with such high degree of elemental conversion was something that acolytes found hard to resist.
âHe⌠will he be alright?â
George was supporting Shiera as he retreated quite a distance. He then looked with obvious worry at Leylin who was still remaining.
âRelax! Lord Leylin is very powerful!â As Shiera recovered she also started to comfort her lover.
Even though she had previously seen Leylin take action, she couldnât quite understand exactly how powerful he was. She only said those things to comfort George.
âItâs just that⌠Leylin is still newly advanced, Iâm afraid thatâŚâ George held Shieraâs hand tightly.
Judging from how Ciel acted before, one could tell that he had a crazy personality. If Leylin lost, then these acolytes would probably end up for the worse.
Facing this, Shiera could only smile bitterly as she secretly prayed for Leylin.
âBecause he followed the wrong people, he had to pay the price!â
Leylinâs indifferent tone was said as if he hadnât even noticed Cielâs previous magic display.
âWhat? You even dare?â Ciel raised his eyebrows. He couldnât understand. From the reports this was a newly advanced Magus, and he was only a potioneer. What made him dare to treat him this way?
Following which, Ciel pointed towards leylin!
It was like the large skull received a command as it charged towards Leylin, and at the same time, its mouth spewed forth dark green flames!
Leylin set forth. Facing this kind of attack he still had an indifferent expression as he directly charged forth.
âIs he crazy?â Before Ciel could finish his sentence, Leylin uttered a single-syllabled word.
Immediately a dark red light erupted forth from within Leylinâs body.
The Falling Star Pendantâs defence activated immediately and formed a dark red barrier around Leylin. As the light condensed it turned into something that resembled an illusionary armor.
Dark green flames exploded onto Leylinâs body but couldnât cause any kind of harm.
As Leylin advanced he was bathed in fire, like the incarnation of an ancient fiery war god. He struck forth viciously with his right fist.
The large skull was directly blown away. As it spun through the air, it left a trace of fine bone dust upon the ground.
*Pow!* After being sent upside down over a distance, the white skull finally broke apart.
âYouâŚâ Ciel was attempting to speak as he pointed towards Leylin.
Leylin expressed indifference before he directly charged in front of Ciel.
He suddenly slashed forth with his hand, the red light around his hands extended and formed into a dark red long sword.
The long sword broke through the air and appeared in front of Cielâs chest.
âArghâŚâ The muscles on Cielâs face contorted. As the sword was about to pierce his body, numerous green chains emerged from within his body to form an armor made of chains in front of him.